Basil Labels

At Basil Labels we supply laser engraved stainless steel labels, which should provide a life time of service. They are not Laser marked, but cut into the surface, and cannot be erased without resorting to extreme abuse. We have produced a neutral finish, not to distract from your plants.

You are able to customise each label to your requirements with a serif or a Sans Serif font, with or without Italics. There are two lines per side which provides you with 100 characters (25 per line). This gives a 5mm font height per line.

The Products

The labels are 17mm wide, 135mm long and 1mm thick. They are made of 316L stainless steel which is a Marine grade, resistant to corrosion even in a high salt environment. The Labels have been extensively tested to provide a quality products. Our testing show that currently, the labels can be damaged by full submersion into wet fertiliser or Cola. Even in these instances it took approximately a week for this to happen.

We supply holders which are specifically designed for these labels. The holders are firmly affixed to the labels and inserted into the ground.

Mounting accessories such as, stainless steel cable ties and screws are also available to secure your labels.

Sustainability

We endeavour to make our business sustainable. Most of our equipment is restored and reused. Our office is made from reclaimed timber, built on piles for a more efficient use of materials. We do our best to give a second life to a majority of our equipment and this in no way hinders our ability to provide quality products.

The labels are delivered with our own packaging that can be composted.

If you no longer require your labels please return them to us and if suitable will offer them free to others with their orders.

We endeavour to remove from our business any non reuse-able Plastics.

Security

At Basil Labels, we take the security of our customers’ information seriously. We uphold your privacy standards by storing all data on our servers locally.

And have good web security with 'Padlock-always-on' and 'Site Scanner' features.

Why Labels?

In January 2015 my wife, Jo and I attended a British Pteridological Society meeting, where the subject of how to label your plant collection was once again brought up. As usual, no one had arrived at a conclusion and this had us talking on the way home. How difficult could it be to create a durable, long lasting and efficient way of labelling your plants?

To produce the best results, we asked ourselves: ‘What is the function of a label?’

To clearly display information about a plant

To present the information on a durable material

Providing extended use without regular maintenance

To be practical and user friendly at a fair price

To be secure, not easily lost or misplaced

Keeping these points in mind, we set about trialling a range of materials, however they were all found to be lacking in some way.

We considered casting, punching and scribing the labels, however they did not have the functionality we required. Ceramic labels were a step closer, however they too had failings.

First Prototypes

We settled on laser engraved, stainless steel, but now faced the problem of producing the labels at a reasonable price with easy ordering.

Working with my son, Simon we developed the labels further and conducted a series of tests to demonstrate durability. The label spent a month in the dish washer being washed twice a day, and was then sanded down. The end result exhibited a durable product with limited damage and still clearly legible.

Securing

Our next obstacle was securing the labels from your garden pests. This included: Birds, Cats, Dogs, Foxes, Badgers and large two legged Mammals.

Once we were satisfied with the product, many trials were conducted with potential users. Their feedback was used to further improve the label.

We are extremely grateful to all who provided such invaluable feedback throughout this process.